Oklahoma Sooners Basketball: Eastern Washington’s Tanner and Jacob Groves commit to Oklahoma

The transfer portal had previously been a bit one-sided for the Oklahoma Sooners since Lon Kruger announced his retirement, but new head coach Porter Moser is on the board in a big way with the commitment of Eastern Washington big man Tanner Groves. Oh, and brother Jacob Groves is reportedly coming to Norman with him.

Tanner, a 6’9” junior from Spokane, Wash., averaged 17.2 PPG and 8.0 RPG in 2020-21, but his shining moment came in the NCAA Tournament when he torched the Kansas Jayhawks for 35 points. It’s been quite some time since OU has had such a skilled big man on its roster, and with Brady Manek, Kur Kuath and Victor Iwuakor on the way out, his arrival couldn’t have come at a better time.

Jacob, a 6’7” sophomore, averaged 9.3 points and 4.2 rebounds in 2020-21. As was the case with his brother, he saved his biggest performance for the biggest stage, as he scored 23 points and grabbed nine rebounds against KU.

Today’s development likely gives OU some momentum for the offseason transfer portal carousel, so it’ll be interesting to see who else Moser and his staff can add in the coming weeks and months, We’ll have to wait and see what ultimately happens with De’Vion Harmon, but if things keep bouncing the right way on the trail, OU’s 2021-22 hopes might still be pretty decent even if he doesn’t decide to return to Norman.

I, for one, am thrilled to welcome the Groves Bros. to the Sooner State.